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30 The PCB Magazine • April 2015 c) Elimination of wiring connections errors during installation and servicing, reduced assembly labor. d) Three dimensional packaging where the flexible circuit can be bent to fit individual products to be installed in non-planar space. e) Minimized weight and space, 75% less weight of conventional wiring type connection between multiple PCBs. f) Improved reliability through elimination of connectors and reduced thermal stress on solder joints. g) Thin, flat conductors and thin insulation resulting in improved thermal dissipation. h) Greater electrical performance for consistent electrical impedance performance with integral ground planes. i) Uniform electrical characteristics with consistent conductor spacing and insulation parameters. Summary From its inception, the printed circuit in- dustry's success factors have been inventive re- sponse to new product designs' performance, reliability, and cost requirements. With the creation of the global cellular communications infrastructure over the last 20 years, Internet- enabled wireless communication and comput- ing products have become an essential part of the fabric of life across the globe. Yet, this re- cent past is only a prologue to the major impact that the current expansion of the connectivity matrix between humans and smart devices and products will foretell. For example, the ELIC ex- amples we have shown in this article took the global PCB industry a decade to evolve from early process concepts. Industry leaders from all parts of the PCB supply chain must do more pre-competitive partnering to create and optimize the best solu- tions more quickly than in the past. At Multek, we expect that the rate of scaling of the next core processes, equipment, and materials envi- sioned for the massive deployment IoT designs must follow a more aggressive timeline of col- laborative setting of new interconnect technol- ogy direction and investments. PCB HIGH-DENSITy INTERCONNECTS: ENABLING THE INTELLIGENCE OF THINGS continues Figure 7: Stack-up of actual rFPCs using HDI technology in wearable technology application. william Beckenbaugh, Ph.D., is technical advisor at Multek Technologies. Joan k. Vrtis, Ph.D., is chief technology officer at Multek Technologies. FeAture